MCA Exam

Prep or preparation literally means readiness. The pattern of human upbringing is such that at every step we are preparing ourselves for the challenges that the future holds for us. With each passing day we are preparing for the next. As a student we learn new things each day work hard and toil to get to the next stage of learning.

When we step out of school for higher education we have to appear for entrance examinations. Entrance examinations are for the purpose of verifying whether a student is ready for the study or not. GRE tests the potential of students for graduation courses. Like any other entrance exam GRE too is difficult to crack and one needs methodical planning to thrive in the tough competition. There are numerous students who appear in GRE and only a handful of them are able to meet the requirements of getting into a good college. Not everyone can pick and choose which college he shall go to. It�s only those who slog and get a high score who can choose.

GRE prep does not happen in a day or two. You will have to study for some three-four months to prepare yourself for the demanding exam. The prerequisite for any work that you undertake in life is awareness. It is only when you know how difficult the exam is, what type of questions appear, what syllabus needs to be covered, how much time is required for preparation, what sources can be best for you etc. that you can get an idea of what your particular requirements are. Depending on your capabilities and shortcomings you need to plan what GRE prep method will suit you best.

There are three sections in the GRE test: Verbal Section, Quantitative Section and Analytical Writing Assessment. For each of these you will have to prepare separately.

There is a variety of alternatives you can choose from for GRE prep. Apart from the traditional GRE prep books there are GRE prep softwares, GRE prep online programs and GRE prep coaching centers. Each source has its own merits and demerits.

Let us first consider some GRE prep books. There are numerous books in the market and each will claim to be the best. But you have to make a sound judgement about which one you need; don�t blindly buy some book your friend is buying! A good GRE prep book should have some attributes which you must be aware of. It should be written by a well known author or else a reputed publishing house should print it; check the credentials of the author in the book. The GRE prep book should have three main categories of contents. That is, for each subject you should have explanation of concepts, ample questions and a number of complete tests for practice. If either of these is missing then the GRE prep book is certainly not worth buying. In such a case you can think of buying two which in totality give you what you want. The content of the GRE prep book matters next. Check the GRE prep book for sufficient explanations of concepts, tips, strategies, tactics etc to handle the GRE. Glance through the questions and you will get an idea of the difficulty level. Pay special attention to how the analytical writing analysis questions are dealt with. You will require a lot of practice for this section in order to get a good score. Go through a little bit of the information given and see if it can be of help to you. Another aspect of a good GRE prep book is its appearance. The GRE prep book should be printed in a clear legible print, the binding should be lasting and sturdy, the overall look should be attractive; after all you shall spend maximum time with this book for the next three months! There should be a CD of instructions along with the GRE prep book and the edition that you pick should be the latest one. The CD should contain instructions and some practice tests for the computer adaptive format of GRE. Some of the well known GRE prep books in the market are Kaplan�s GRE Exam, Princeton Review, Peterson�s Ultimate GRE Tool Kit and Barron�s How to Prepare for the GRE. You can look for these books on sites like ebay.com and amazon.com, or download some GRE prep book soft copy if you get a link. Another helpful book is the GRE Big Book which was released by ETS. It contains full real tests and is a good book for practice, but it is not printed anymore. Check for its availability on ebay and amazon.

The computer based GRE is a test in which the computer actually adapts to your performance as you’re taking the test.

Details of the CAT

At the start of each section, you are presented with test questions of average difficulty. Based on your responses, you will be presented with questions of increasing difficulty if you’ve answered correctly. Otherwise, if you answer incorrectly, you will be presented with questions of lesser difficulty. As you go along, your next question will be the one that best reflects both your previous performance and the test design.

Given below is an image of what the computer screen looks like when you take the actual GRE test.

Answering of questions

You have to answer each question in turn, so you cannot skip a question to move to another. When you select an answer, you are allowed to change it as long as you haven’t moved on to the next question. Therefore select your answers carefully since you cannot come back later to modify your previously selected answers.

Scoring of answers

Your score on each section depends on the following :

• Number of questions answered in allotted time
• Performance on questions answered
• Level of difficulty of questions answered

You receive a scaled score from 200 to 800 on each of three scored sections.

The analytical writing section of GRE or the GRE essay writing section is a part of the GRE test where the student is supposed to write essays on the given topics. This section tests the writing abilities of the students. The language, expression and choice of words are tested in the detailed essays of the GRE essay section.

The GRE essay section helps in measuring a lot of aspects of a student�s abilities. It is used to judge the ideas and expression of a student. The student is required to give examples, or evidence to support his essay. Thus, the GRE essay section also judges the ability to correlate the topic to the activities of life in general.

GRE essay section requires a well-knit and logically connected essay. This is judged by how well a student is able to develop the structure of the essay in the essay writing section. The way one thought leads to another affects the connectivity of the essay. A student should not only be able to provide relevant information in an impressive manner, he should also present a well built essay.

The GRE essay section is also a test of the language of a student. The essays are long passages written to express an idea or a thought. It is required to be written in good English. This means that it should be grammatically correct and should be embedded with impressive language.

TYPES OF ESSAYS OF THE GRE ESSAY SECTION
There are two types of essays to be written in the GRE essay section. These are the issue essay and the argument essay. The student is required to write one of each of the types of essays in the GRE essay section. For this the student should be familiar with the requirements of the issue essay and the argument essay. Attempting the essays without properly understanding them is a grave mistake and can lead to cancellation of the essay and thus reducing your GRE score.

In the issue essays of the GRE essay section, the student is given a topic in the form of a statement which is debatable. The student can either agree or disagree with the given statement. Therefore, in the essay you can either support or reject the given statement and support your stand with suitable examples.

On the other hand, in the argument essay of the GRE essay section, there is an argument which represents an author�s view. The student is required to analyze the argument critically for its strengths as well as shortcomings. The line of thought used by the writer is supposed to be judged for logic and reasoning. However, the student should not give his own view regarding the argument. The argument should be discussed for all its aspects that make it strong or week with the help of examples. This makes it different as well as more demanding than the issue essay.

Before attempting the essays of the GRE essay section, the student should completely understand the requirements of the essays, without which it is impossible to write a good essay. For this, the students should practice writing issue as well as argument essays and also go through the solved sample essays. This will give them practice and understanding of the essay. It will help in improving the speed of the student as well as the expression, which can add to a good GRE